Eikyuu no Arashi
by ShadOh sEeKeR 15
Summary: Ominous winds are blowing in-- and Tenchi will have to make a decision soon. But will that decision throw the whole universe out of alignment? (rated PG-13 for later chapters)


Eikyuu no Arashi   
By ShaDoH sEeKeR 15  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own most of these characters. They belong to Hitoshi Okuda and Viz Comics.   
Probably more people, too. I'm not making any money off of this, so please don't sue me! I'm poor ^^;   
With that out of the way, let's get on with the show. ^_^  
  
***** *****  
  
~Eikyuu no Arashi~   
  
THE ETERNAL STORM  
  
It has often been noted that there is a relative sense of calm before a major storm. Keeping that in mind,   
most intellectual beings take the time within that period of calm to prepare for the storm, and also to   
prepare to wait it out. That's why you don't see many people or animals out on the streets during a   
hurricane of tornado. All creatures patiently await the passing of the storm, so they can return to their   
business. But what if the storm never ended? What would cause such a grievous event? As the pieces fall   
into place, perhaps you shall see. Perhaps you may also see the one who possesses the type of power to end   
the storm. They might wish to end it. Then again, they might not.  
  
***** *****  
  
Prologue  
  
Tenchi. The boy (or rather, man) stood, alone. The utter darkness that surrounded him prevented him from   
sensing it at first. He'd kick himself later for it; his heightened senses should have easily detected it. And   
them. He had dealt with them for long enough, he should have been able to tell they were close by… of   
course, having lived on Earth so long, it was understandable how he relied too heavily on sight. All of his   
concentration went into searching for something tangible… evidence that there was something for him to   
see.   
  
He didn't notice at first the slight tremble of thunder underfoot. Only when he gave up on seeing and heard   
the distant rumbling did he throw out his other senses and fall to his knees to feel the ground with his   
hands. Suddenly the hard, smooth surface upon which he stood shifted as the rumble grew louder. He   
grabbed a fist-full of the new substance and looked at it strangely. Obsidian dust sifted through his fingers,   
blending in with his surroundings. He stood up, holding a small amount of the sand in his hands. How was   
it he could see himself as though the sun was shining brightly upon him, but he could not see anything else?   
And while he was asking questions he obviously couldn't answer, where the hell was he?   
  
Then he found something else very strange. He sniffed the air slightly, disturbed by the smell. It smelt of   
burning…flesh? He didn't know exactly what that smelled like, but if there was any odor he could have   
picked to describe it, he was pretty sure this matched. Very closely. He was slightly nervous now. He   
hated not knowing what was happening. "Get ahold of yourself, Tenchi…" he whispered to himself.   
When the thunder cracked loudly over his head, he found that it had not helped in the slightest bit. He   
groaned, then twisted the ring on his finger. With a brilliant flash, he stood with his sword in hand, garbed   
in rather frilly pink Juraian armor.  
  
"…"   
  
Tenchi sighed and twisted it again in the same direction. This time he settled comfortably into his original   
Jurai armor, the outfit he used when fighting Kagato. He felt a lot more secure now, with the powers of   
Jurai shielding him. He looked around again, this time seeing a dark flash a few hundred meters away. He   
gasped, stopping himself from becoming relaxed in his power. The light from the lightning…wasn't white.   
It was dark. Of deepest black light, highlighted with golden sparks. He hadn't seen it before…   
  
The ground positively shook beneath him, suddenly enough to almost make him lose his balance. He   
braced himself, and turned around to where the rumbling was stronger. As a flash of the dark light erupted   
behind him, the light reflected slightly off of first Ryoko's gleaming, feline eyes, then the Juraian tiara from   
Ayeka. Then hundreds of metal beasts, standing at about human height, eyes shining with an unearthly   
scarlet glow. They were moving so fast, and coming directly towards him… he sensed something behind   
him, activating his sword and swinging it up to clash with one of the bolts of lightning, barely dodging   
most of the spray of many smaller bolts that his sword had sliced from the main one. The few ones that did   
caused him great pain that dissipated almost instantly, but leaving him with a crimson trickle of blood from   
the corner of his mouth.  
  
The thunder roared, almost making him deaf. The metallic things were almost upon him, just a few meters   
away, and the lightning was coming at him again. He was so confused and scared that he put up the   
Lighthawk Wings, but he saw and knew instantly that it couldn't hold off that much force...   
  
And so he thought, with a scream of terror that became a guttural shriek of agony, "This is the last thing   
I'm ever going to see and I'm going to die and I'll never see my family again or tell Ayeka and Ryoko and   
Sasami and even Grandpa and Dad and ohmigosh they're here and they're cutting through the shield and   
they're slashing at me with their blades and oh god it hurts and I can't do anything and I just want it all to   
go away it hurts so much I hate them the lightning and I want it to stop--"  
  
***** *****  
  
Tenchi woke up screaming, the pain in his head and chest almost real. He was drenched in sweat and was   
breathing heavily, gasping for air, shuddering against the sheer brutality in the events of the nightmare. He   
waited several minutes to reorient himself before weakly sitting up and finding his slippers. Standing up   
and propping himself up against the wall of his apartment, he made his way to the bathroom. Before he   
could enter, someone rapped on the front door. He moaned softly, realizing he could still feel the pain   
inflicted in the dream.   
  
"Who is it?" he rasped, surprised at the sound of his voice, or lack thereof. The angry voice of an   
elderly woman responded, seeking to reprimand him. He began to unlock the door.  
  
"See here, Masaki-san, I know you're a new tenant and all, but really. This is no way to wake people up   
so early in the morning. Lord, its only three in the morning! What do you have to say for yourself?"  
  
"I'm terribly sorry, Shirato-san. Please forgive me. I…must have had a nightmare." He was wavering   
slightly on his feet, propping himself against the wall with one arm. He shook his head and ran a hand   
through his hair, resting his forehead on it. "Please also forgive my lack of respect to you and your   
husband."  
  
The woman hugged her robe tighter about herself, softening her tone a bit. "I must say, you don't look   
well. Are you ill? Do you need caring for?" She peered at him through narrowed eyes.  
  
"N-no, ma'am, I'm fine. Oh, and terribly sorry. Good night." He shut the door and stomped his way back   
to the bathroom, wincing at the sudden brightness of the light. He grabbed a towel and washed his face,   
then downed a large dose of headache pills. He eagerly flipped off the light, welcoming the darkness, and   
went back to his bedroom. Laying down on his futon, he put his arms behind his head and thought, staring   
up at the darkened ceiling.  
  
"What am I going to do?" he said to himself. It was clear the dream had an important message behind it—  
when one was a prince of a powerful kingdom like Jurai, everything you did had some ridiculous warning,   
according to what Lady Ayeka had told him. Supposedly, nightmares were the most powerful of these   
hidden messages. He didn't really believe them, but…that dream had been quite different…  
  
Tenchi involuntarily shuddered. What if he had never gotten to tell everyone how much he loved them?   
He still hadn't quite made a decision between Ayeka, Ryoko, Mihoshi, and Washuu, though he was sure   
the final decision would be solely between Ayeka and Ryoko. He loved them both, in their own separate   
ways, of course….but the question was, who did he love more? Who did he love enough to be able to   
spend the rest of his life with? These questions kept haunting him, and once he thought he had it figured   
out, his choice was made invalid by a change of events.   
  
"Enough," he growled, shaking his head to clear it. "This is hurting my head too much." With that, he   
rolled over, pulling the heavy blanket over the top of him. It was late fall, after all. The air had a subtle   
chill to it. Tenchi closed his eyes, blocking his world from his view. The world was the one who brought   
him these problems, anyway. He fell asleep again, but this time into a fitful state of dreamless rest. The   
morning would be here soon, and with it, responsibilities. He had a long day coming tomorrow…at   
college.  



End file.
